''Buzdartherium'' (meaning " Buzdar beast") is a

dubious Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

paraceratheriid from

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

and possibly also

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

aged sediments from the

Chitarwata Formation The Chitarwata Formation is a geological formation in western Pakistan, made up of Oligocene and early Miocene terrestrial fluvial facies. The sediments were deposited in coastal depositional environments (estuarine, strandplain and tidal flats) ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

.Malkani, M. Sadiq. (2016). Large Photos of Recently discovered Basilosaurid, Baluchithere Rhinoceros, Horses, Sea Cow, Proboscidean, Eucrocodile, Pterosaurs, Plesiosaur, Fishes, Invertebrates and Wood fossils from Pakistan; ''Footprints and trackways of archosaurs from Pakistan''. The monotypic species is ''B. gulkirao'', named in 2016, and its remains have been found only in the Sulaiman Basin (Chitarwata Formation), which preserves rocks dating from as early as the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

, although the

Indian Plate The Indian Plate (or India Plate) is a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian Plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana , began mov ...

did not collide into the

Eurasian Plate The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...

until about 30 million years ago, during the

Early Oligocene The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two ages or the lower of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chatti ...

Discovery and naming

The holotype of ''B. gulkirao'' is based on specimen MSM-1-Taunsa, which consists of a single tusk like incisor tooth, a premolar tooth, a cross-sectioned tooth, vertebrae, ribs, a spine, the proximal end of a humerus, an ulna, the proximal end of a pubis, a cross-sectioned pubis, the proximal end of an ischium, a cross sectioned ischium, a femur, a carpal, astragalus or tarsal, a metacarpal or metatarsal, phalanges, and an ungual. The holotype was found in Buzdar, Pakistan in Oligocene strata. The genus and species was named by Malkhani in 2016, and was described briefly again in 2017.

Description

''Buzdartherium'' would have been a large mammal with long bulky legs and a long neck, used to forage for plants that would have made up its diet. It would have reached up to long when fully grown. ''Buzdartherium'' would have had a long, smooth forehead that lacked the attachment points for horns. The back of the skull was low and narrow, without the large lambdoid crests at the top and along the sagittal crest. ''Buzdartherium'' shows Eurasian affinity and migrated from

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

to the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

subcontinent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

vice versa References Additional references * * {{Latin phrases V ca:Locució llatina#V da:Latinske ord og vendinger#V fr:Liste de locutions latines#V id:Daftar frasa Latin#V it:Locuzioni latine#V nl:Lijst van Latijnse spreekwoorden en ui ...

via the Western and Northern Indus Sutures, after drifting away from

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

during the

and after the collision of the Indian subcontinent with

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, which occurred during the early Ypresian epoch of the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

period, around 55 million years ago.

Classification

Upon naming, ''Buzdartherium'' was placed within the

Indricotheriinae Paraceratheriidae is an extinct family of long-limbed, hornless rhinocerotoids, commonly known as paraceratheres or indricotheres, that originated in the Eocene epoch and lived until the early Miocene. The first paraceratheres were only about the ...

by Malkhani (2016). However,

Paraceratheriidae Paraceratheriidae is an extinct family of long-limbed, hornless rhinocerotoids, commonly known as paraceratheres or indricotheres, that originated in the Eocene epoch and lived until the early Miocene. The first paraceratheres were only about the ...

is now considered to be a separate family. The

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

below follows the 1989 analysis of Indricotheriinae by Lucas and Sobus, and shows the closest relatives of ''Buzdartherium'', which was added at a later date:

References

Oligocene rhinoceroses Fossil taxa described in 2016 Prehistoric rhinoceroses Fossils of Pakistan {{paleo-oddtoedungulate-stub